Aside from picking our favorite apps that we use every day, we conducted a survey of our readers asking for suggestions. In the end, we had close to 200 apps that we narrowed down to this exclusive list of 100.

The apps listed here aren't ranked. Instead, we broke everything up by categories and sorted alphabetically. You can click the big link below to view our full list, or jump to one of the following categories:

Kevin Smith, Business Insider

Kevin Smith, Business Insider

Productivity

Paper by Fifty Three, for doodling on your iPad

Paper by Fifty Three is a drawing app that won Apple's Design Award in 2012. Think of the app as your own digital sketchbook. It comes packed with a variety of brushes and pens for your doodles. We suggest buying a stylus if you really want to get the most out of the app.

Box, for storing documents online

If you work in a corporate environment, you need to be using Box.

Box is one of the hottest tech startups at the moment. The company touts itself as a cloud service for the enterprise, giving you an easy way to back up and share all your documents online and view them on any device.

We love Box's commitment to developing apps for all platforms, not just the most popular ones. You get 5 GB of storage for free with Box, but there are several paid plans if you need more.

Bump, for sharing stuff between phones

Bump lets you swap contacts and other content with nearby mobile devices over a Wi-Fi network. All you have to do is select what you want to share and "bump" the two devices together. Kiss your business cards goodbye.

CardMunch, for keeping track of business cards

Apple

CardMunch allows users to convert business cards to address book contacts, and then add those contacts as connections on LinkedIn. Just snap a photo of a business card, upload it to the service, and the information will be automatically added to your phone. There's no need to hang on to the paper business card after that.

Checkmark, for setting tasks and reminders

Checkpoint is our favorite location-based reminder app. The app takes advantage of the iPhone's geofencing feature to alert you of tasks when you enter and exit a particular location. It's not a new concept, but Checkmark does it a lot better than the iPhone's built-in Reminders app.

Clear, for a beautiful to-do list on your iPhone

Ellis Hamburger, Business Insider

Clear is a very simple, yet elegant to-do list app that will help you stay productive and on task. The app is beautifully designed and it feels satisfying to remove completed tasks with a simple swipe.

Notably missing is a feature that lets you back up tasks online so you can access them on your computer or other mobile device. But that's not necessarily the point with Clear. The app aims to keep things as simple as possible.

Dropbox, for storing all your files online

Steve Kovach, Business Insider

Dropbox lives on your desktop as a virtual folder. You can drag and drop files into your Dropbox and they'll appear on all your devices. You also have the option to store files in a public folder so you can easily share them with a simple download link.

Dropbox gives you 2 GB of storage for free, but you can earn extra storage by inviting your friends to sign up. There are also a bunch of paid plans.

Evernote, so you can remember everything

Think of Evernote as your online notebook for everything. The service lets you store text notes, audio files, photos, web articles, to-do lists, and just about anything else you can think of online. You can then access all your stuff on your PC, the web, or mobile device.

Gmail, still the best way to check email

iTunes

Gmail is the web-based email king. With a Gmail account, you get plenty of storage for free, meaning you likely never have to delete an email again. (You can always purchase extra storage just in case). You also get Google's excellent search feature, so you can easily go back and find old messages.

Price: Free

Available on: Android and iOS. Gmail can also be accessed from any smartphone browser like Blackberry and Windows Phone by heading to m.google.com/mail.

Google Chrome, our favorite Web browser

Depending on who you talk to, Google Chrome is widely regarded as the best browser you can use. It syncs with your Google Account, meaning all you have to do is log in to get access to your bookmarks, tabs, and settings. If you already use Google services like Gmail, then switching to Chrome is a no-brainer.

Google Drive, a great way to store files and documents to your Google Account

Google Drive is an excellent storage solution within Google's ecosystem. It functions a lot like Dropbox, allowing you to store a folder on your desktop to drag and drop files into. It also syncs with your Google Documents, so you don't have to worry about losing a file.

Drive starts you off with 5GB for free but if that isn't enough you can always purchase more.

Google Goggles, for searching Google using images instead of words

Google Goggles is an augmented reality app that lets you search for stuff just by snapping a photo of an item. Simply point the app at a book, product, or street sign, and Goggles can provide facts about it.

The app is perfect when you need to find out more information about a product on store shelves or a painting at the local gallery.

Remember the Milk, for setting reminders on all your devices

Remember the Milk is a handy app that helps you to organize the things you have to do. Remember the Milk lets you see tasks that are located nearby (depending on your location) and syncs everything seamlessly with its online platform.

Robin, a Siri alternative for Android users

Robin is the first true Siri challenger. We love the expanded capabilities of the newer virtual assistant. You can ask Robin for directions, local places, real-time parking, traffic info, gas prices, weather, your Twitter news, and much more.

Robin is disrupting the personal assistant arena, and we only hope that her existence pushes developers to make personal assistant apps feel more like true personal assistants.

Sparrow, a great alternative to the iPhone's email app

Sparrow was recently acquired by Google, but it's still our favorite alternative to Apple's built-in email app on the iPhone.

Sparrow is based on simplicity and minimalism. The app takes the headache out of checking email and makes it more interactive. Users can take advantage of full IMAP and POP email support, and Sparrow even allows you to easily browse through threaded conversations.

One major bummer: Sparrow for iOS does not support push notifications.

BBC News, a beautiful news feed for your smartphone or tablet

BBC's news app allows you to see stories based on geographical region or category. The most dynamic feature of the app is its interface. We love how stories are sorted by blocks and how easy it is to navigate around the app.

Instapaper, for saving online articles for later

Instapaper is a minimal app that makes it easy to read web articles later.

The service strips down articles, removing ads and photos, to present you with easy-to-read articles on your iPhone, iPad, Android device, or Kindle. Instapaper is the perfect solution when you don't have enough time to read something right that instant.

Kindle/Nook/iBooks, for reading your favorite e-books

Steve Kovach, Business Insider

Each of these three apps will let you access millions of e-books, but it's up to you to choose the service that's best for you.

Here's the breakdown:

Kindle lets you to purchase and read books from Amazon's book store. The app is well-designed and robust and offers an excellent interface. We love that your purchased books sync between all your Kindle devices and apps, so you can pick up where you left off. Amazon Kindle users can also check out books from their local library and lend purchased titles to friends.

Barnes & Noble's Nook app integrates books, newspapers, and magazines from the company's huge collection. It is easy to use and allows users to load their own ePub files. You can also lend books to friends with Barnes and Noble's LendMe feature.

iBooks is Apple's own bookstore/book reading app. iBooks offers the closest experience to reading an actual book. In addition to providing you with access to the latest books, the app also organizes your PDFs. The downside: You can only read your books on iPhones or iPads.

*As of July 23, 2012, The New York Times stopped supporting the NYTimes app for BlackBerry. NYTimes.com content is still available on your Blackberry through the mobile site.

Reeder, for checking your RSS feed

App Store

Reeder is a great way to stay on top of the news you care about. It fully syncs with Google Reader and allows you to browse articles by feed or organize news into folders. We love how interactive the iPhone and iPad apps are. You also get some great multi-touch gestures to mark stories as read and reveal new items.

Finance/Business

Mint, for keeping track of your finances

Over 8 million people use Mint to stay on top of their finances.

The app is a well-designed and has many built-in alerts to help users stay on budget.

With Mint, you input information from your credit card, bank account, loans, 401k, etc. and the app automatically helps you manage your finances. You can set goals for yourself such as paying off a credit card or student loan, and Mint will help you figure out the best way to make it happen.

Chances are, your bank has an app you can use

Most major banks have a smartphone or tablet app that'll let you check your balance, make transfers, pay bills, and even deposit checks by snapping a photo. Just search your smartphone or tablet's app store for your bank's name to get the app.

Price: Free

Bloomberg, for breaking financial news

Bloomberg is the go-to app if you're obsessed with financial news. The app helps you get business and finance news fast. Included are market data and portfolio tracking tools to supercharge your experience.

Salesforce, for keeping track of your clients

Salesforce.com is a software as a service company that sells business software and solutions on a subscription basis.

Salesforce's mobile app brings the power of the sales platform on-the-go. The mobile app allows you to spend less time in the office and more time in the field. Salesforce's app lets users instantly access and update critical information from anywhere.

If your company uses Salesforce, it's definitely worth it to take the mobile app for a spin.

Square is a game-changing mobile app that allows you to take credit card payments from anywhere. The service charges a small rate of 2.75% of the total transaction for Visa, American Express, MasterCard and Discover.

Square ties to your bank account, so all the cash will show up as soon as the transaction is processed. It's a great option for small businesses who don't want to work directly with credit card companies.

Best of all there are no contracts or monthly fees and no merchant account needed. The funds are deposited into your bank account the next business day.

Once you sign up for Square, the company will mail you a free credit card swiper that plugs into your phone or tablet's headphone jack.

Social Media

Kevin Smith, Business Insider

Facebook, for keeping up with your friends

Apple

The number one social network in the world is still trying to figure its place in the mobile world. Facebook has an app for almost every platform. Until recently, Facebook was a slow, clunky experience on the iPhone and iPad. But the company's latest update is noticeably faster and lets you upload photos almost immediately.

There's still a lot of work to go, but Facebook's newest apps are a step in the right direction.

Google+, a way to connect with your friends via your Google Account

Steve Kovach, Business Insider

Google+ is the search giant's social network. And it happens to have a very excellent mobile app for Android and iOS.

A neat feature is the ability to video chat with up to 9 friends with mobile Hangouts. And if video isn't your thing, the app allows you to chat with a friend or all your friends at once with the text-based Messenger

Imo.im, for chatting on all popular instant messaging services

Imo.im is a convenient way to stay on top of your instant message conversations.

The app is available for all major mobile phones and allows you to keep in touch with friends through Facebook Chat, Google Talk, Skype, MSN, ICQ/AIM, Yahoo, Jabber, Hyves, VKontakte, Myspace, and Steam.

LinkedIn, for keeping up with your professional contacts

LinkedIn

LinkedIn's mobile app provides an excellent way to keep up with more than 175 million members worldwide. The app is well designed, syncs with your phone's calendar to help stay on top of meetings, and even lets you view and save recommended jobs.

Pinterest, for sharing photos of things you love with friends

Pinterest has taken the world by storm. The social network encourages you to find things you're interested in and "pin" them to your virtual pinboard. Friends and fans can then follow along and comment or re-pin your items.

Just recently, the network released Android and iPad versions of its popular app.

WhatsApp Messenger, for sending free text messages over the web

WhatsApp is a cross-platform, real time mobile messenger. WhatsApp is an excellent alternative to text messaging because there is no cost to message and stay in touch with your friends. Think of it as a version of Apple's iMessage or RIM's BBM that will work across any device.

SocialCam/Viddy, for sharing short videos online

Often called the "Instagrams for video," SocialCam and Viddy both make it easy to share videos with friends through their respective networks.

Viddy limits your uploads to 15 seconds. Viddy is packed with loads of filters and editing tools, so you can add visual effects, music, transitions, and movie stars to your videos.

SocialCam allows you to upload videos of any length, giving users a bit more freedom with what they shoot. For the privacy conscious you can upload private videos and even have a private account. SocialCam's videos are stored in the cloud so they can be accessed anywhere. It also has filters and editing tools to make your videos stand out as well.

Music

Garageband, for editing music

Apple

Garageband is an easy-to-use app for mixing music.

The mobile app is amazing because it turns your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch into instruments. You can use the multi-touch gestures to play piano, beat the drums, and even take a stab at the bass. One of the coolest features is the ability to conduct an entire string orchestra with just one finger using Smart Strings.

Garageband for Mac turns your computer into a recording studio and can even teach you how to play an instrument from famous musicians.

Planetary, for listening to music on your iPad with unique visuals

Apple

Planetary lets you interact with your music collection in a completely different way.

The app visualizes your music library as a solar system, with artist as the stars, albums as planets, and the tracks as moons. Planetary gives a whole new meaning to "hands on." Displaying the visualization on an HDTV is a cinch with Apple's HDMI accessory or AirPlay mirroring.

Spotify, for streaming unlimited music

Steve Kovach, Business Insider

During a time when music piracy is rampant, Spotify has changed the way that users interact with music. The service gives you access to millions of tracks and makes the experience completely social. Users can see what their friends are listening to over Facebook and Twitter and discover new music.

Spotify will let you stream music to the desktop for free. But if you want to listen to music offline or take full advantage of its mobile apps, you'll need to subscribe to the service for $10 per month.

Spotify's music library is full of millions of tracks from all the major record labels, so you shouldn't have trouble finding what you need.

Shazam, for identifying songs you're listening to

How many times have you wanted to know what song is playing but you have no way of figuring it out?

With Shazam, your smartphone can listen and analyze a song and tell you what's playing. It also provides links to purchase and download the song, or share it with friends over your favorite social network.

TuneIn, for listening to popular radio programs on demand

WindowsPhone.com

TuneIn Radio is changing how we interact with radio. Users can listen to music, sports, and news on over 70,000 radio stations and 2 million on-demand programs. Streams include ESPN, BBC, CBS, and TED Talks. A neat feature is the ability to wake up with the alarm clock or fall asleep with the sleep timer.

djay, lets you make your own mixes

djay turns your device into a full DJ system. The software allows you to mix together your tracks manually, or use the handy auto-mix feature. Best of all, it syncs right up with your iTunes so you have access to all your favorite songs.

Weather

Kevin Smith, Business Insider

Dark Sky, for checking when it's going to rain

Dark Sky is one of our favorite weather apps. The app lets you know when it's going to rain down to the minute. In our experience, it's incredibly accurate. Plus its user interface is absolutely gorgeous.

The Weather Channel, for checking the weather based on location

Steve Kovach, Business Insider

The Weather Channel has a beautiful app that allows you to see current conditions, forecasts, and share it all over social media. There's also weather-triggered imagery that changes the app background based on your local weather conditions.

The app is available on all major mobile platforms, but we're especially in love with the design of the Windows Phone version.

Doodle Jump, for guiding a little robot through an endless maze of platforms and monsters

Doddle Jump is an incredibly addictive game. It's simple to play: Just tilt to move your character left or right, and tap the screen to shoot. There are over 11 worlds to jump through and the gameplay is never-ending.

Plague, Inc., for fulfilling your desire to wipe out humanity

Plague, Inc is a very sophisticated game. You are tasked with wiping out all life on the planet with a deadly disease. But it's not as easy as it sounds. You have to cultivate your disease by evolving its symptoms, resistance to medication, and transmission properties. Kill the human race before it can kill your disease!

Plants Vs. Zombies, for defending your home against hordes of zombies

Apple

Plants vs. Zombies challenges you to build a defense against a zombie onslaught with over 49 different plants, each with its own special ability. Sound weird? It is! But the game is also insanely fun to play.

Superbrothers is an awesome-looking 8-bit-style game with intuitive touch controls. It's a humorous twist on the classic adventure games from the '80s and early '90s. We love all the hilarious in-game dialogue. But jokes aside, Superbrothers is also a blast to play.

Dating apps: OK Cupid, How About We, Grindr/Blendr, for single people looking to mingle

These three are great examples of dating apps done the right way.

Grindr/Blendr: Grindr is a location-based dating app targeted towards gay men and women. The app lets you know what singles are nearby so you can meet up with them. Blendr, which is made by the same developer, is the same concept but for straight couples. (Available for Android and iOS)

OK Cupid Ok Cupid has most of the same features as other social networks. Users can chat, send status updates, message potential matches, and let the service match you up using its algorithms. The mobile app also lets you know what singles are nearby for impromptu meetups. (Available for iOS and Android)

How About We: How About We changes the traditional online dating mold. It calls itself an offline dating site. Instead of simply perusing profiles, How About We encourages users to propose fun and interesting dates. If you see an exciting date with a potential match, you can use the app to reach out. (Available for iOS)

Price: All of the apps listed above are free.

VLC, for watching any video file on your computer or mobile device

VLC is the perfect app for watching any type of video. Unlike other apps that restrict the kind of file types you can play (we're looking at you, iTunes), VLC can play every single major media file format.

VLC has been around for 14 years, and is continually updated to stay relevant and add new features. Not just for the casual user, VLC also appeals to professionals.

Sports

ESPN ScoreCenter, for keeping up with your favorite teams

ScoreCenter is the perfect app for the sports fanatic. It provides fans with real-time scores and news right on your smartphone. You can personalize your scoreboard so you'll receive only scores and news that you care about.

Push notifications are supported too so you'll never miss updates on another big game.

There is also a Pro version (for iOS) that is available for $1.99, which offers an ad-free experience.

Travel

App In The Air, for tracking flight information

App in the Air is the perfect companion for anyone taking a flight. The app helps users to fly smarter by providing airport information such as the best restaurant and Wi-Fi locations. The app also helps you keep your friends and family updated by integrating Facebook and Twitter.

Hipmunk, for finding cheap flights and hotels

screenshot

Hipmunk helps to make traveling easier.

The app helps you find the cheapest flight or hotel by displaying a clever interactive chart. It also makes booking easier. Once you've found the right flight, simply book it from your mobile device, email it to someone else, or finish booking on your desktop.

TomTom/Navigon, for turn-by-turn GPS directions

Both apps eliminate the need for a traditional GPS device in the car. TomTom and Navigon both provide users with turn by turn navigation, and traffic re-routing.

TomTom stands out with social media integration, allowing users to find destinations based on Foursquare checkins. TomTom also supports 2D and 3D map display—including bird’s-eye view—and integrates Google Local Search.

Navigon automatically switches between night and day mode depending on the time. The app also provides you with a speed assistant giving audio-visual warnings if you're going too fast. Best of all, you'll never miss an exit again because of the Lane Assist Pro feature.

Uber, for hailing a cab from your smartphone

Uber's mobile app lets you request a private driver from any city the company services. You don't have to worry about cash because Uber will charge your credit card and email you a receipt. Tip included!

You really can just hop in, get driven to your destination and hop out.

Waze, for finding cheap gas and more as you travel

Waze is a GPS app with turn-by-turn navigation. It includes real-time traffic information and provides users with access to a social driving community. We love how the app alerts you of red light cameras, construction on your route, and even helps you find the cheapest gas prices.

AIM, for access to one of the most popular IM networks

AIM has been around since 1997, and is still going strong today. Although its popularity has since died down it is still widely used.

Today, the AIM app supports group chat and allows you to connect with Facebook Chat and Google Talk. AIM provides you with everything you're used to and even supports push notifications so you'll never miss a message again.

Quora, for getting answers to your burning questions

Quora is a community of users that provide answers to popular questions. Ask a question and the community of experts will help you to get an answer. In addition to the question and answers, users can also follow topics they're interested in and learn something new.

Seamless, for ordering food online

Seamless allows you to quickly order delivery or takeout from more than 10,500 restaurants in 45+ cities. The App is well designed and fully automated. You pay the bill and tip with your credit card, so even if you don't have cash on hand you can still get the food you want.

Star Walk, for checking out planets and constellations

If you hold your iPhone up to the sky, Star Walk can tell you where the International Space Station is at that very moment. In addition, the app can point out stars, planets, satellites, and more in augmented reality.

Star Walk can even turn back the hands of time and show you what the sky looked like at any time during the past.